GOVERNMENTS OF THE UNITED STATES

CA CONTENT STANDARDS
11.1.2Analyze the ideological origins of the American Revolution, the Founding Fathers
philosophy of divinely bestowed unalienable natural rights, the debates on the drafting and
ratification of the Constitution, and the addition of the Bill of Rights.

11.1.3Understand the history of the Constitution after 1787 with emphasis on federal versus
state authority and growing democratization.

With this project, students will be able to analyze how the US Constitution originated from the
flawed lack of government stemming from the Articles of Confederation. By comparing the two
governments side by side, students will get a better concept of the two types of government used.
Furthermore, with the addition of the Bill of Rights, students will also comprehend why the
Constitution has been so successful even after 200 years of existence.

Lesson
Students will have 3 days to complete the following project. Students will read the following
articles about the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution from the websites listed below:

The Federalist Papers Project

Understanding the Congress of the Confederation

In addition, students also must watch the following short videos

Articles of Confederation
United States Constitution
Directions
By using Popplet students will individually make a graphic organizer describing the two forms of
government used by the United States of America. This project must include the following:

Distinguish the two types of government and the years they were used
o Type of legislation used
o Where the power was focused (IE: Centralized or State)
o Restrictions
o Limits of power
o Congress
Elections
Members
Duties
o Any additional information you deem important
There must be a minimum of 5 different graphics/images that are relevant

(Each sub-topic must be color coordinated to help organize the material. There must be at
least 20 popplets for EACH type of government)

By the end of the project, students will be able to analyze both types of governments used by the
United States and be able to discuss their pros and cons.

For any additional questions, please see the grading rubric for further assistance. If you still have
questions after looking over this document and the grading rubric, you may contact me through
my email which can be found on my website.

Things to Ponder:
Was there anything good that resulted from the Articles of Confederation?
How did this new form of government (the Constitution) help this struggling nation?
Why do you believe the Constitution has lasted so long?